3 ms·

Mountlake Terrace (10.5% sales tax), Edmonds (10.4% sales tax), Lynnwood (head tax[1]), Bellevue and other cities that are on the periphery of Seattle have equa

by posguy 6y ago

Mountlake Terrace (10.5% sales tax), Edmonds (10.4% sales tax), Lynnwood (head tax[1]), Bellevue and other cities that are on the periphery of Seattle have equal or higher taxes. Seattle had a head tax up until 2008, if a minor increase in tax like this is going to stop hiring of employees, then our zone based business commuter tax scheme would have already been that death knell [2] 1 - https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/city-of-lynnwood-increases-employee-head-tax-by-567 https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/city-of... 2 - https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/employer-programs/business-orca.aspx https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/employ...

pinewurst 6y ago
(Edited to reflect the response's article link) One can hardly compare a $93-$105 per employee head tax to a much higher income tax.
- posguy 6y ago
  None of the cities I listed charge that little in head tax: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-businesses-strike-back-against-head-tax-launch-referendum/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-businesses... This measure is progressive taxation on earnings over $150k a year, if anything its a boon for small and medium businesses in Seattle. These large companies have driven up rent and gentrifed our neighborhoods while paying less in taxes than small and medium businesses, meanwhile our tax burden is still much lower than California.
  - pinewurst 6y ago
    My objection isn't the tax per se, but an utter lack of faith in the city government to spent it wisely. From the anti-Amazon rants, it's about punishing them and anyone else successful, with any resultant cash being a 2nd order effect. My partner spent many years analyzing area homeless programs and Seattle has done so much poorer than King County. Giving them more money isn't going to fix anything. Sawant and friends are hardly going to improve matters with their profound insights - Pol Pot is not a good model. I personally heard one of her speeches to Boeing machinists where she literally yelled at them to take over their factory and produce airliners for the people. (They'd probably do better than the 737MAX...)
    - 8bitsrule 6y ago
      From the article: "The council also passed a high-level spending plan Monday. The money from the new tax will be allocated to coronavirus economic relief this year and preserving city services next year, the plan says. Starting in 2022, the revenue will fund affordable housing, community-led development, local business assistance and Green New Deal investments." About 800 businesses will be affected. The tax rates are far from exorbitant. The businesses can certainly afford to pay them, and the need is self-evident. Seattle has certainly done poorly for homeless people. Under the old guard it has spent a lot to have police push them around the city, and done very little else. Nothing visible except tent cities. Anything beats nothing.
      - gavin_gee 6y ago
        Despite trying to avoid this facet of the discussion in my original post, this response is where the argument becomes irrational: "businesses can certainly afford to pay them" is not a valid argument to justify a tax.

by posguy 6y ago

pinewurst 6y ago

(Edited to reflect the response's article link) One can hardly compare a $93-$105 per employee head tax to a much higher income tax.

posguy 6y ago
None of the cities I listed charge that little in head tax: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-businesses-strike-back-against-head-tax-launch-referendum/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-businesses... This measure is progressive taxation on earnings over $150k a year, if anything its a boon for small and medium businesses in Seattle. These large companies have driven up rent and gentrifed our neighborhoods while paying less in taxes than small and medium businesses, meanwhile our tax burden is still much lower than California.
- pinewurst 6y ago
  My objection isn't the tax per se, but an utter lack of faith in the city government to spent it wisely. From the anti-Amazon rants, it's about punishing them and anyone else successful, with any resultant cash being a 2nd order effect. My partner spent many years analyzing area homeless programs and Seattle has done so much poorer than King County. Giving them more money isn't going to fix anything. Sawant and friends are hardly going to improve matters with their profound insights - Pol Pot is not a good model. I personally heard one of her speeches to Boeing machinists where she literally yelled at them to take over their factory and produce airliners for the people. (They'd probably do better than the 737MAX...)
  - 8bitsrule 6y ago
    From the article: "The council also passed a high-level spending plan Monday. The money from the new tax will be allocated to coronavirus economic relief this year and preserving city services next year, the plan says. Starting in 2022, the revenue will fund affordable housing, community-led development, local business assistance and Green New Deal investments." About 800 businesses will be affected. The tax rates are far from exorbitant. The businesses can certainly afford to pay them, and the need is self-evident. Seattle has certainly done poorly for homeless people. Under the old guard it has spent a lot to have police push them around the city, and done very little else. Nothing visible except tent cities. Anything beats nothing.
    - gavin_gee 6y ago
      Despite trying to avoid this facet of the discussion in my original post, this response is where the argument becomes irrational: "businesses can certainly afford to pay them" is not a valid argument to justify a tax.